Duplicity
by Artemisss
Summary: Ophelia Black lives a life lacking consequence, privileged and reckless. But she never expects her fate to be quite so cruel. An old prophecy threatens any chance she has at a budding love with her best friend. OC/OC. Features a Slytherin!Harry. Alternative Universe.
1. Prologue

_**Duplicity**_

 _Ophelia & Cepheus Black live a life lacking consequence. Privileged and reckless they enjoy manipulating others for their own personal gain. When Ophelia realises she has fallen for her best friend – Dayne Riddle – he's already got eyes for someone else. Featuring Slytherin!Harry. Alternative Universe._

* * *

 **PROLOGUE**

 _Godric's Hollow - 31 October, 1981_

Sirius Black's eyes shifted once more to the delicate hands of his pale faced watch. It was nearly midnight and he had been crouching in Bathilda Bagshot's overgrown garden for what felt like hours.

His heart was beating uncomfortably quickly in his chest – the anticipation was killing him.

As though on cue, a tall hooded figure suddenly appeared at the end of the street. A wand held stiffly in their right hand.

Sirius retreated further into his hiding place, hoping that the new arrival would not notice his presence.

The hooded figure swept past him, their step confident, unaware that they had a spectator. They finally reached a quant cottage perched snuggly at the streets end, its garden freshly manicured, vines cradling its sides. The visitor's spare hand pushed the front gate open swiftly before they briskly walked up to the front door. There was a bright flash of light before they disappeared from view.

Sirius felt his anxiety peak, sweat pooling in his hands as his knees began to ache – he wasn't sure how long it had been since he last moved.

The street remained in silence for a while - as though holding its own breath.

There was an abrupt strangled scream – a woman's. The figure swiftly reentered the street before disappearing into a whirlwind of black smoke.

Pushing himself awkwardly to his feet, Sirius nearly tripped over due to the heaviness of his sleepy legs. He crept out of hiding place, hesitantly tiptoeing towards the cottage, his eyes darting to each of the other cottages he passed, hoping not to be seen.

A familiar face suddenly appeared in the window of the cottage he had been watching – a tall man, his face grim as he held tightly onto a babe at his chest. James. His framed eyes met Sirius' before he nodded stiffly.

Sirius felt relief fill his chest – it was done.

His thoughts shifted to his own children – twins. He would do anything for them – just as James had.

It was time to go. He thought of home – 12 Grimmauld Place – before black smoke surrounded him and he felt the familiar pull of apparition.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Thank you for reading the Prologue of my story – more to follow. This story is alternative universe and will follow the story of if James had given up Lily – believing it would save Harry. If you enjoyed the first part of this story, please feel free to leave a review.


	2. Chapter 1: Ophelia

**Chapter 1 - Ophelia**

Her dark eyes lagged with each tree as the train raced by, little changed in the English countryside each year, but she adored the consistency of it. This was her last year at Hogwarts and she was desperate to take everything in. Fearful she wouldn't get to experience this view again.

She was so wrapped in the passing scenery she had not noticed the boisterous fight that was going on beside her, until they were practically on top of her.

Two boys her own age, nearly as lanky as each other, were engaging in a perhaps overly aggressive wrestling match.

The taller of the two, unruly sandy blonde hair and warm green eyes, pulled his sparring partner back away from her apologizing profusely, "sorry, Fee. Dayne wouldn't shut up about Puddlemere flogging the Falcons."

"Well they did play shockingly, Jared" she laughed, repositioning herself in her seat so her back was now to the window, pulling her skinny knees up against her chest.

"Even you don't agree with me!" he exclaimed, falling back into the seat adjacent to hers.

It became a snugger fit as the other boy, Dayne, took a seat beside her, still laughing as he swept his previously well style mahogany hair away from his face. He had an aura about him that drew your attention. A confidence in himself, without being egotistical, and sharp features, that had lost the boyishness about them years ago. Her father had often remarked how startlingly similar Dayne had looked to his father at the same age. If it wasn't for the unusual grey eyes he had inherited from his mother, the resemblance might have been uncanny.

There were six of them in the carriage, five boys and herself – it had always been the group of them, ever since first year. She had been inseparable from her twin brother Cepheus since birth and all her father's friends had had boys of the same age. She had been the only girl. It hadn't been until her first Hogwarts years that she had established a healthy friendship with fellow dorm mate Daphne Greengrass, a bubbly girl who seemed to see the best in everyone. If she hadn't been from a long line of Slytherin's Ophelia was sure she would have been better suited to Hufflepuff.

Ophelia didn't possess nearly the same patience for difficult personalities and Daphne was best friends with one of the worst of them – Pansy Parkinson.

Ophelia had always had a strained relationship from Pansy – a girl whose primary interests were her appearance and boys. When Pansy was lucky to not fail a subject, she was carried through by group assignments. Pansy had always been cold to her, Ophelia's close relationship to the boys meant that her opinions were taken seriously. Pansy had always feared Ophelia had slagged her off behind her back.

Ophelia's attention turned to her brother, who sat opposite her, wedged between the window and Jared, his chin length black hair falling in his eyes and a serious expression drawn into his brows. Cepheus had an even shorter patience then Ophelia. Quick witted and calculating he would always make a valued ally. He lacked any sort of imagination, seeing things as black and white, fact or fiction, right or wrong. However, he was undoubtfully loyal. Cepheus would always be the first friend to stand beside you in a fight and he would always be the friend who sat beside you and listened while you cried you intoxicated lungs out about an irrelevant issue at the end of the night.

Jared beside him was certainly the joker of the group. A keen Quidditch fanatic and player who would try anything to avoid doing a bit of school work. Despite their personalities being near polar opposites, Jared and Cepheus had become best friend's years before they came to Hogwarts. Jared's father, Augustus Selywn, was quite a bit older then Ophelia's, business savvy and a true pure blood loyalist he had married a young bride at thirty. Jared's mother, originally a Yaxley, had been friends with Narcissa Malfoy at school and Narcissa had insisted she bring Jared to one of Draco's birthday parties as a child. The rest was history.

Draco was also seated in the carriage, between Dayne and the carriage door, he was locked in a tense game of wizarding chess with his friend opposite him – Harry Potter.

As though sensing her gaze, Harry looked up from the chess board, his starling emerald eyes meeting hers reassuringly. He cracked a small smile.

They had always been close, play mates since they were in diapers and as they had grown older the absence of both of their mothers had drawn them closer together. Ophelia knew the messy divorce of her parents couldn't compare to the horror that had haunted most of Harry's childhood – his mother murdered on Halloween when he was barely past one. His father had faced scrutiny for years – prime suspect – he had been at home at the time, although apparently asleep at the time.

Their father's being best friends and Ophelia's had refused to speak of it, throwing out the daily prophet every time a new piece of evidence surfaced. It hadn't been until their first Hogwarts year that they had really learnt the truth, sneaking into the archives of the library one evening under the protection of Harry's invisibility cloak.

The 1981 and '82 archives were horrible, journalists had speculated for months, even years, how he had 'done' it. The department of law enforcement had determined that Lily Potter lost her life to the killing curse, but a deeper investigation into both James and Lily's wands had determined neither had ever dealt it. In 1982 stories had turned to whether James had paid someone to do it – that's where Ophelia's father had come in. A natural assumption due to his unwavering friendship with James. His classmates had noted his strained relationship from Lily at school. Polar opposites, Lily had been a dedicated student with flawless grades and Sirius had been quite the opposite, frequenting detention perhaps even more than a classroom. Sirius had been jealous when she had first begun to date James.

Yet tests on his wand had returned the same result – it wasn't him either.

Ophelia was pulled back from the memories as she felt the sharp pain of an elbow in her side. Startled she realized Dayne was staring at her, as though he was waiting for her to respond.

"Sorry?" she croaked, sitting up a little straighter in her seat. "Did you say something?"

His eyebrows furrowed together slightly, as though he was considering asking what she had been thinking about. Deciding better of it, he repeated his question again, "so what's on the cards for Fee, now that Montague's out of the picture this year?"

Ophelia smiled slightly, reminiscing about the feeling of relief that she had felt at the close of sixth year. Her breakup with Graham had been messy and the last month of school had been painful. She had spent most nights trying to avoid him in the Slytherin common room. She had even dreaded Quidditch training at the end of their relationship, Graham was controlling and easily jealous. Their relationship had hit a wall when she had had too much to drink at the Grand Final after party and she had woken up with a roaring migraine in Jared's bed. A memory that hadn't been discussed since. It had taken Jared most of the school holidays to win Cepheus back over and the relationship still appeared to be somewhat strained – Cepheus had barely acknowledged him for most of the train ride, instead pretending to be interested in his textbook.

"Well now that I'm captain there won't be an attitude from you lot," she laughed slightly, playing with the new badge on her chest. "Training twice a day if I can help it. "

"You'll have to beat Weasley to bookings then," Cepheus piped up, speaking for the first time since they had first gotten onto to the train. "Granger wouldn't stop complaining about him in the Prefect's meeting. I still can't believe they made her Head Girl over Daph. At least people actually like Daphne."

"No one outside of Slytherin does – you're only saying that because you like her," Jared laughed, nudging his friend with his shoulder.

"You better ask her out this year, Ceph. I'm sick of hearing about it," Draco piped up from the other end of the cabin.

Cepheus had been keen on Daphne Greengrass for years. He had recruited Ophelia multiple times to try and get a confirmation from Daphne of her mutual feelings, but Daphne wasn't stupid, she knew there were no secrets between the twins.

There was a quick rapping on the door, before a plump woman's head poked into the cabin, "anything from the trolley?"

The boys were on their feet in seconds, madly pulling sickles from their pockets. Once they had all claimed enough food to last a few weeks they retook their seats, surveying their finds.

Cepheus tossed a chocolate frog at his sister, "stop thinking about what she said – you're skinnier then her."

"Who?" Dayne asked through a mouthful of food. "Did I miss something?"

"We saw Parkinson on the platform before you arrived," Cepheus explained. "I think she's got it out for Fee even more this year."

Dayne leaned back in his chair, his cool grey eyes moving to Ophelia, "She's always so nice to me though."

"She likes you," Ophelia explained, "really likes you. That's why she hates me."

Dayne smirked idly, "everyone likes me."

The rest of the cabin scoffed, choking on their sweets. If there was one thing Dayne was not, it was well liked. It wasn't that he was cruel or unkind. But he was boisterous, clever and ambitious. His surname carried a reputation that brought fear from anyone who knew his father and respect from anyone who didn't. They hadn't met till their first year. Dayne's father had kept him from most of the other children as a child – only Jared had met him previously. Jared's Selwyn surname had carried a lot of respect from the wizarding community and most importantly from Dayne's father. The Selwyn's were one of the truest pureblood families, every single one of them married well and they always ended up working in the Department of Mysteries – doing what, even Jared seemed to have no idea.

Dayne's family however was even more difficult to figure out. Riddle was a muggle name, his own father a half blood, but none of their parents ever seemed to care. It was different for Dayne her father had told her once – he had told her to not ask about it again.

Past visits to Dayne's family home had confused her even more. It was a grand home situated in Little Hangleton that always seemed to be unbearably cold. Dayne's parents lived in the same home but there was a strange distance between them. Elizabeth Riddle (nee Rosier) was far younger than her husband. Ophelia wasn't sure it had been a arranged married or if she had willingly married Dayne's father, but she was sure they didn't even sleep in the same bedroom anymore. Dayne's mother however always seemed to around and his father mostly absent. Dayne didn't speak about his father much and when he did it was never favourable.

Cepheus broke the awkward silence, "another hour or two and we should be there," he commented checking his watch.

The rest of the journey followed much of the same routine, the sun setting gently on the horizon as the train rolled into Hogsmeade station. They piled off the train, pushing through the crowds. She took a moment to take into the glorious site of the school, perched high on the hill above them.

"Hurry up," Dayne urged her, running back towards her and grabbing her hand quickly, as he pulled her back up to speed with the others.

She felt her heart skip a beat, although she was not entirely sure why – little did she know what a interesting year it was going to be.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

Just a quick note to explain the pattern of this story - it will be told with several characters as the POV characters - you'll find out who those are as we travel through the story.

Someone reviewed concerned that James had murdered Lily. I just want to clarify that he didn't murder her but I'm also not going to tell you what really happened. I can tell you that the only people who really knew what happened are James, Sirius and the murderer. Ophelia and Harry know absolutely nothing more then the media - and the media construes things. Neither Sirius or James will discuss it.

Thanks for reading :)


	3. Chapter 2: Dayne

Chapter 2 - Dayne

Dayne Riddle studied the canopy of his four poster bed his thoughts far from his dorm room.

He hadn't been able to forget the unusual conversation he had had with his father a week before, it had been on his mind ever since.

 _They were seated uncomfortably across the table from each other, his father bent over the Daily Prophet, one hand absently playing with the handle of his tea cup._

" _Do you like that Greengrass girl?" his father had asked suddenly, his eyes never leaving the daily prophet. "She comes from a good family."_

 _Dayne leaned back in his chair, his reply short, "Cepheus likes her."_

 _His father turned the page of the prophet, still not looking up as though the contents were too enthralling to look away from, "Parkinson, then?"_

" _She's alright," Dayne responded, "but no one really seems to like her, especially Fee."_

 _For the first time since they had said good morning, Dayne's father looked up from the prophet, suddenly interested. "You don't like the Black girl do you?"_

 _The question made Dayne's stomach turnover, he picked up a piece of toast biting into it to hide any reaction from his father. "Do you want me to?" he asked carefully._

 _An unusual expression crossed his father face, somewhere between confusion and something else Dayne didn't recognize. It was a moment before he responded, "it would make things difficult for her family. I was thinking of orchestrating an arrangement between them and the Selwyn's. Two of the oldest pureblood families, it would make sense." His eyes returned to the Prophet as he turned another page, "I heard something had happened there."_

 _Dayne felt something rise up in him, jealous and ugly. He found it hard to hide as he bit back at his father, "How do you even know about that? I didn't tell you."_

 _His father rose from his seat quickly, tucking the prophet under his arm, his tea still half full on the table. "Just because it happens at Hogwarts, doesn't mean I don't know about it, Dayne." Tom Riddle turned to leave the room before stopping at the door. "Nothing gets passed me."_

Dayne was pulled back from the memory at sound of someone else moving around the dormitory. He sat up, pulling the curtains back to find Cepheus, already dressed.

Cepheus looked up from his school trunk. "Hurry up if you're coming, I told Fee I would meet her at seven downstairs."

Just before seven he entered the common room, his hands madly twirling his tie together.

Ophelia and Cepheus were seated on two couches at the far end of the room, closest to the exit, having what seemed to be a very tense conversation. Ophelia appeared visibly upset.

"What's going on?" Dayne asked as he joined the pair of them.

The expression immediately disappeared from Ophelia's face and she smiled hollowly, "nothing. Let's go."

From experience Dayne knew that when Ophelia and Cepheus argued it was never anyone else's business. They didn't disagree often, but when they did it was a battle you wouldn't want to be involved in. If you sided with one of them, they would both end up turning against you – siding with each other.

"Okay," Dayne submitted, not willing to take it further. He would have better luck asking them individually then together. "Shall we go down to breakfast?"

The walk to breakfast was awkward, but once they reached the Great Hall the mood subsided entirely.

Tucking into breakfast, Professor McGonagall appeared holding a large pile of papers. "Black, Black, Riddle – your timetables. I'll leave Malfoy's, Potter's and Selywn's with you too. Looks like you have Transfiguration with me this afternoon."

"Looking forward to seeing you then, Professor," Cepheus said politely as she disappeared off towards a new group of students.

Ophelia snorted, "have you been brushing up on your teacher's pet persona again?"

Cepheus cracked a small, the first Dayne had seen since they had arrived on the platform yesterday. "Granger recommended that I be more respectful of my elders if I'm ever going to be a good Head Boy."

Ophelia raised her brows, "You should stop taking advice from her – you've gotten boring."

She was right. Dayne wasn't quite sure what had happened but something had changed in Cepheus over the holiday break. Their father had kept both of them busy over the holidays and Dayne hadn't seen either of them till yesterday on the platform.

Ophelia had been invited to a Puddlemere United 'Future Stars' camp - she had always dreamed of playing Quidditch professionally. Her letters had been animated, excited and frequent throughout the break.

Cepheus had however stayed home. His replies to his friend's letters had been distant, short and vague. Unexplainable. It was like something had happened that he hadn't told anyone. Dayne wasn't sure if even Ophelia knew.

"What time did you nerds get down here?" Jared joked as he slipped into the seat beside Dayne. Already piling food onto his plate.

Harry and Draco were behind him. Harry was quick to take a seat next to Ophelia, breaking into conversation about her summer of training. She tossed her head back, laughing at something he said, her locked billowing down her back.

Realising he had been watching her, Ophelia gave him a confused look.

He shook his head quickly, turning back towards his breakfast. It was then that he caught Cepheus' menacing expression, his eyes fixated on him.

Confused, but not wanting to push it further, he returned to his breakfast, listening to Jared tell an animated story about a prank he had played on his younger sister over the holidays.

"Settle down students," Professor Vector called for the attention of her Monday's Morning Seventh Year Advanced Arithmacy class.

It was a small class, filled with a handful of Ravenclaw's, Hermione Granger from Gryffindor, Ophelia, Cepheus, Daphne Greengrass and himself.

Cepheus had moved so quickly to get the seat next to Daphne his affections were painfully obvious. Daphne however smiled brightly, clearly pleased by the attention.

Ophelia and Dayne sat behind them, passing notes between themselves as Professor Vector started the class.

 _What was that about this morning in the CR?_

he passed to her.

Ophelia frowned slightly, a disheartened expression crossing her brows. Dayne felt a paing of guilt, worried he had upset her.

She turned the paper over, taking a few moments to write back to him.

 _I promised I wouldn't say._

As he read the note, he felt dread rise up in him. Ophelia didn't keep much from him, often using him as her consultant when she was too scared to ask Cepheus his opinion on something. However, the meaning behind the note meant one thing – whatever it was it involved either her father or brother – or both.

"Riddle, Black – please pay attention," Professor Vector called from the front of the room. Pushing her glasses further back up her nose.

She turned to the board scribbling on it with chalk, "now this year, you will be using the equations you have learnt from last to predict how your year will play out. The project will be due at the end of October and will be worth 40% of you NEWT for Arithmacy – please break into pairs."

Neither of them moved, Cepheus gave them a bright expression at his luck of pairing with Daphne and neither of them imagined pairing with anyone else.

"Do you think this will take long?" he asked her. Ophelia was particularly good at Arithmacy, but both of the twins were.

"Probably a month at least, around training," she analysed. "Meet me after last period in the library?"

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading another chapter! If you enjoyed it, please review :)


	4. Chapter 3: Jared

**Chapter 2 - Jared**

 _Two minutes._

He had been counting down for most of the Charms class, his eyes glued to the clock. The Qudditch Pitch booking timetables opened at lunch and in this moment his biggest priority was ensuring Ophelia made it to the clipboard outside the great hall first.

"What a creep," Ophelia remarked beside him. "He won't stop staring at me."

Across the room, Ron Weasley's eyes were fixated on the two of them, he looked ready to leap of his chair at any moment. His books already packed away.

 _Thirty seconds._

"You run for it, I'll take care of him."

When the bell finally rang it the adrenaline took over him. Ophelia bolted from the room before Professor Flitwick had the chance to greet her. Leaving her book bag in her midst – one of the others would take it with him.

Weasley moved faster than he was expecting, but he had made the mistake of taking his bag with him – an action that slowed him down. Jared chased him into the hallway. Through a pack of giggling third year Hufflepuff girls and down a flight of stairs.

A floor down he caught him, grabbing Weasley's book bag he pulled him back, slamming into the wall such force that the red head buckled over coughing.

Jared didn't flinch – taking off towards the Great Hall once more. Nothing came between him and Quidditch.

As he reached the Great Hall, he found Ophelia locked in a very intense argument with the new Ravenclaw captain. Both their hands were locked around the same quill and it looked like it might snap at any moment.

"Back up there, Chambers," he said breathlessly as he reached them.

Surprised by his sudden arrival, the Ravenclaw boys grip loosened on the Quill. Ophelia ripped it out of his grasp, turning to the book, madly scribbling on the open page.

When Chambers considered a second attempt, Jared placed a forceful hand on his shoulder. "You shouldn't fight with girls, Chambers. It makes you look like a coward."

"She's hardly a girl!" Chambers explained, his voice hiking up to an unusually high pitch. "Is Selwyn your bodyguard now, Black?"

She laughed slightly, not removing her gaze or the quill from the page.

It was then that Weasley finally arrived, still coughing.

"What took you so long, Weasley?" Jared asked, turning his attention away from Chambers. "Can't your family afford enough meat to grow some muscle."

Ron's face turned nearly the same colour of his hair, he stepped forward to react but thought better of it. His eyes glued to the staircase. When Jared followed his gaze he found Dayne and Harry walking down it, the pair carrying his and Ophelia's book pages.

"I'm done," Ophelia announced, stepping away from the book and making a point to hand the quill to Chambers over Weasley. "Weasley, you'll just have to wait your turn. Chambers was here first."

"I was here before you!" Chambers retorted.

Ophelia turned to him, her expression one of mocked outrange and disgust, before she smirked. "Ladies first."

Joined by Dayne and Harry, the four of them headed into lunch.

Taking their seat, Harry asked the question that had been on all their minds, "So when's training?"

"I booked Monday, Wednesday, Friday 4-5:30pm, then Tuesday and Thursdays 6-7am. I didn't book anything for the weekend as I thought we needed lives," she explained. When they all look at her, slightly taken about by the nine and a half hours of Qudditch training each week, she continued, "I want to win this year. Plus Oliver Wood told me there would be scouts."

"You talk to Oliver Wood," Dayne retorted, halfway through a mouth of food.

She shrugged, "we write to each other sometimes. He's quite good looking."

Jared snorted, "they're pen pals guys!" he explained in a high pitched faux school girl voice. He pulled out an invisible piece of parchment and began to write on it with an equally invisible quill. "Dear Oliver, I write to you, unable to forget about those long sticky summer nights we spent with each other over the summer hol-"

"Sounds like you've had some practice at that," Ophelia retorted. "Have you been writing him letters too?"

The boys broke into a fits of laughter, taking a few moments to calm down.

"So, does that mean we have training tomorrow morning?" Harry asked, biting into a bread loaf. "I was hoping for a sleep in."

Ophelia rolled her eyes, "of course. It's our last year – we've got to win. I feel a bit sorry for Vaisey and Urquhart, they're going to have to fill five spots next year."

The team was for the most part made up of seventh years. Dayne and Ophelia as chasers, Harry as seeker, Cepheus as a beater and Jared as Keeper. Vaisey, a gangly fifth year and Urquhart a solid sixth year filled the remaining chaser and beater positions respectively.

"Have you seen Ceph?" Ophelia asked, referring to her watch. "I thought he'd be down here by now. Why didn't he come down with you?" she asked Harry and Dayne.

"He said he had to do something before Transfiguration," Harry explained. "Not sure where Draco is."

The word Transfiguration dawned on Jared and he realise he hadn't packed his textbook. Leaping to his feet, he grabbed his bag. "Forgot my book. Don't want to upset Minnie on the first day," he joked. "I'll meet you there."

The walk to the common room was a quick one and he was appreciative that their common room was in the dungeons, rather than up in some of the towers, like the other common rooms. The common room was mostly empty; a few stragglers were bent over books but the majority of students were down in the great hall.

Taking the steps two at a time, he burst into his dorm room. Taken a back at the site inside.

Cepheus was crouching on the door, his back to him. Hunched over, the sweat was visible at the back of his neck. His book bag lay beside him, forgotten, books pooling out onto the floor.

He dropped his back, racing over to his friend's side, "Ceph, are you alright?"

Cepheus' right hand was holding tightly to his left wrist. When he looked up, his jet black hair was matted to his forehead, his face scrunched up in pain. "He won't stop calling," he choked out.

Jared pulled Cepheus' grasping hand away, revealing the coiling mark of a death eater. He had suspected Cepheus had received the brand over the holiday, but his friend had been yet to reveal it.

"You're going to have sneak out," Jared explained. "Where's the map?"

"I've already gone through my bag and Harry's – Ophelia must have it," Cepheus choked out. 'I can't get up the stairs without them turning into a slide."

"I'll go get it," he offered. "Just clean this mess up and try to calm down. I'll be back in a minute."

Exiting the room, he raced back down the stairs. At the common room, he eyed the rooms to the girl's dormitories before walking back towards the other end of the room. He would need a run up.

The run up got him to the first floor, but the seventh year girls were situated on the seventh. His arms were going to ache at the end of this. Cepheus would have never managed this with the aching of his wrist.

After what felt like hours, his biceps and forearms aching, his legs virtually useless. Jared reached out, wrenching the door to the seventh year girls dormitory opened. Luckily it was empty.

He remarked for a moment how much tidier it was then his, before he made a beeline for Ophelia's trunk. It was locked, but he knew the code. Tipping it open, he found the Marauder's Map tucked under a coat, half way through the bag. He stuffed it in his back pocket before quickly shutting and locking her bag back up.

Exiting the room, he took the slide back to the common room. Not even noticing the odd look of horror a group of second year girls gave him as he turned to take the steps to the boy's dormitory, two at a time.

Cepheus appeared more composed when he returned, but Jared could tell it was with great difficulty, a vein pulsing on his forehead.

"Can you come?" Cepheus asked as his friend passed him the Marauders Map.

Jared shook his head, "he'll think you're a coward if I go with you. Besides he hasn't called me."

He had gone through the traumatic branding experience at Christmas last year. An event he didn't want to relive. He was the oldest of the group and naturally was the first branded. It had taken him weeks to move past. He had thrown himself into Quidditch, enjoying the welcomed distraction.

"I better go," Cepheus said standing up, "I'll try and be back before dinner. Can you tell the others I'm sick?"

Jared didn't respond until his friend was nearly at the door, "Mate, why didn't they brand Fee? Shouldn't they have done you together?"

Cepheus paused, his hand lingering on the doorknob, "I don't know. Dayne hasn't been done either and you would think he'd be before any of us." He paused, as though considering something for a moment, "Dad told me to keep him away from her, Dayne I mean. Make sure nothing went further than friends. But I don't think he likes her like that anyway…" Cepheus trailed off. "I better go," he said suddenly before disappearing out into the hallway.

Cepheus' words lingered with him, a pit forming in stomach. He hadn't been game to tell Cepheus that there had been only one other person more furious then Montague after the Grand Final Part last year. Full of whisky, Jared had been thinking about anything other than the confession Dayne had made to him a few weeks earlier.

He was in love with her.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

Thanks for reading, if you enjoyed this chapter please leave a review :)


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